Introduction CS 239 Advanced Topics in Computer Security Peter Reiher September 23, 2010

1. IntroductionCS 239Advanced Topics in Computer Security Peter ReiherSeptember 23, 2010

2. Outline • Subject of class • Class topics and organization • Reading material • Class web page • Grading • Projects • Office hours

3. Subject of Class • Problems and solutions in computer security • Concentrating on unsolved problems and recent research • Covering networks, systems, other aspects of computer security • Including privacy • Intended for students with serious research interest in security

4. Class Organization • Graduate level seminar class • Concerning topics of ongoing research in security • Based around group discussions • Not formal lectures

5. A Typical Class • Someone (usually one of you) will spend 15-20 minutes outlining a topic • Remainder of class will be spent discussing it • Whoever presented it should lead discussion • Generally, everyone will lead a discussion at some point

6. Topics to Be Covered • Many of the following: • Taint tracking • Distributed denial of service attacks • Privacy and social networking • TPM and related technologies • Malware for portable devices • Botnets • Security for ubiquitous computing • Security versus usability

7. More Topics • BGP security • DNS security • Cyberwarfare and cyber-deterrence • Novel hardware attacks (e.g., cold boot, firmware attacks) • Privacy and data mining • Security education • Web security • Internet tools for privacy

8. Yet More Topics • Measuring security • Data provenance tracking • Attack attribution • Insider threat detection • Trust • Novel access control mechanisms • Biometric authentication • Security for vehicular networks • Analyzing malware

9. And a Few More Topics • Virtual machine approaches to security • Security for cloud computing • Preventing information leaks • Social engineering and defenses against it • Computer forensics • Not intended as an exhaustive list • Your favorite topic might be added

10. Assigning Topics • Nineteen total classes, counting today • I’ll take the next two classes • One day for midterm • Two days for project presentations • That leaves 13 more classes • 2 students lead discussion on some topic • To be decided by the end of second class • First come, first served

11. Reading Material • No textbook • 2-4 papers for each class • Some selected by me • Some by class leader • Papers will be made available on class web page • In some cases, web pages may be used instead of papers

12. Class Web Page • http://www.lasr.cs.ucla.edu/classes/239_1.fall10 • Will show class schedule • And list papers for each class • With links to them • Other useful information also there

13. Grading • 20% midterm • 40% class participation • 40% project • No final exam

14. Midterm Exam • Essay questions based on material in first half of class • Probably three questions • Open notes • Including papers

15. Class Participation • Covers both class you lead (15%) and participation in other classes (25%) • Not graded on brilliance • But on involvement and ability to contribute to discussion • If you can’t regularly attend this class, you won’t do well in it

16. Leading a Class Discussion • Should focus on: • Analysis of the problem • Critiques of existing solutions • Suggested improvements to those • Or new solution approaches • Think of it as being part of a research team looking at this problem • Goal is to spark a discussion • Not to spend two hours reviewing the papers that were assigned

17. Slides for Presentations • Not required, but a good idea • If possible, send them to me ahead of time • So I can post them on the web page • I’ll bring a projector to every class

18. Class Projects • Half of your grade • Group projects (2-4 people) • On some topic involving network security • Must be a research topic • Not just implementing known stuff

19. Project Proposals • Project proposals due at end of 4th week of class (October 15) • 1-page summary of what you want to do • Can be submitted as hard copy or email • Not graded, but required

20. Project Status Reports • Due at end of 7th week of classes (November 5) • 1-3 page summaries of the progress you’ve made to that date • Hint: there should be some • Hard copy or email OK • Not graded, but required

21. Project Presentation • Last two class days reserved for project presentations • In-class presentation of your project • Demo, if feasible • Graded as part of project itself

22. Project Demonstration • If not feasible to demo in class, arrange a separate demo with me • Projects should (usually) produce something demonstrable • Important that demo shows off something interesting about project • Graded as part of project

23. Project Reports • Written reports on project • Due Monday of finals week (December 10) • 15 pages is typical length • Should: • Describe problem and approach • Cover difficulties and interesting points • Describe implementation • Show that you’ve learned something from it!

24. What Makes a Good Project? • Probably requires coding • Hardware OK, if you can do it • Theoretical work acceptable, but you’ll need real results • Probably requires testing and/or measurement • Should be research • Original work no one else has already done • Based on a promising idea • Ideally, this should be capable of being converted to a publishable research paper

25. Office Hours • MW 2-3 • In 3532F Boelter Hall • I’m around a lot, so other times can be arranged by appointment

26. Prerequisites • Should have taken an operating system and a networking class • Should have taken my CS 136 on Computer Security • Or similar class elsewhere • I’m not going to check on this • But I’ll assume you know this material • I won’t be presenting reviews of this material

27. Kinds of Security Things You Should Know About • IPsec and SSL • Key exchange protocols, certificates, certification hierarchies • Common attack classes (e.g., man in the middle, replay, buffer overflows) • Basics of security threats and mechanisms • Use of cryptography for authentication, privacy, and other purposes • Basics of firewalls and virus protection systems • Basics of viruses and worms

28. Kinds of Operating System Things You Should Know • Operating system structure and organization • Memory management • File system architecture • Booting and hardware interactions • Virtual machine technology • Process management and scheduling

29. Kinds of Networking Things You Should Know About • TCP/IP • Routing protocols • How DNS works • Basics of wireless networks • Basic design and architecture of the Internet • Basics of application-layer protocols (e.g., HTTP)